Soon after, this car featured all-wheel drive and four-wheel brakes, another world first.

This boggles my mind. I do not understand why these didn't take off. I know the Oil companies had alot to do with the killing of the electric car but
still. I believe that the auto industry would be in a lot better shape if this design was continued.

By the year 1900,electric vehicles dominated the car industry.
In that year,4200 cars were sold in the US.
38% were powered by electricity
22% by gasoline
40% were powered by steam.

By 1924 not a single electric powered vehicle was exhibited at the National Automobile Show and the Stanley Steamer was scrapped that same year.

Also,the first car with air conditioning was by the packard motor company and was exhibited publically on November 4 to the 12th 1939 at the 40th
Automobile show in Chicago.
The first automatic air conditioner was Cadillac's Climate Control introduced in 1964.

I would give a link but I am getting my info the old school way.....a book.

Your thread doesn't surprize me one bit.
The car industry is all about taking your money....it has nothing to do with efficiency.

I'm sure the oil companies have played a part in subduing progress when it comes to alternative fuel, hybrid, and electric vehicles but, that was only
a small contributing factor. The technology used in 1900 was cutting edge at that time, but nowhere near the hybrids we have today. It wasn't cost
efficient for automotive companies to implement this technology. There have been several attempts at releasing hybrids, even in recent memory, that
have failed miserably. R&D on such a project is incredibly expensive, parts and assembly... expensive, implementation to the dealers and training of
sales force and technicians...also extremely expensive. When the car finally hits the market and falls flat on its face, the company loses BIG TIME.

It wasn't until the last 10 years, that we have seen a huge swing in interest from the consumer, and only in the last few years have the vehicles
become practical on an economical level. And now you see companies like Infiniti releasing full size sedans with 360 hp Hybrid motors. Here's a little
taste for your viewing pleasure.....

The car industry is all about taking your money....it has nothing to do with efficiency.

edit on 27-4-2011 by DrumsRfun because: (no reason given)

^^^ This way of thinking has to stop!!! I have been in the auto industry my whole life (only 26 y.o. ha), and most consumers have a similar thought
process when it comes to "car sales." A dealership is a BUSINESS, one that requires PROFIT to, floor plan the cars, keep GAS in the cars, pay sales,
techs, accounting, reception, management, detail, drivers; stock parts, keep the lights on, ohhh and... go home with some money in their own pocket
that would make the above all worth it. I swear, people are complete idiots when it comes to the automotive business.

How do you pay your bills? With money. How do you make that money? From a company or your company.... Where do they get that money from?? Turning a
profit or... helping someone else turn a much bigger profit.

That car was not a hybrid in the sense that it didn't have a gasoline engine. It was a purely electric vehicle.

Anywho. Kudos to Ferdinand Porsche as well as to why the Porsche marque is one of the most honored in the automotive industry today.

Yes, the Rockefellers dominated the auto industry with their gas powered alternative to the electric but it was a matter of infrastructure in many
regards as well as simple science and economics.

Natural Selection you might say....But....

A gallon of gasoline still contains more energy per volume than that of an equivalent battery.....plain and simple.

For example...

Here we are 100 years later and a new Chevy VOLT can only go 35-40 miles or so on a single charge of it's high tech Lithium-Ion batteries before the
generator has to kick in ? To get you home ?

That's ridiculous !

But as an electrical engineer...that is the nature of a DC as in Direct Current electrical system.

For They are inherently inefficient and also as to why we use Tesla's AC Alternating Current based system to power our grid today.

But back to the electric car...

You cannot change the principles of physics and Ohms law unfortunately, and currently that's the best Affordable battery technology that we have at
the moment.

So it isn't entirely conspiratorial but more so a matter of basic science and economics as well as practicality.

And on the car companies as a whole....the auto companies actually make more money on the financing than they do on the actual hardware as in
cars...why do you think that leasing is so popular with them ????

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